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Brooklyn-based 3D printing company MakerBot is opening a can of worms with the launch of a 3D scanner that allows users to copy objects placed on its turntable.

The Digitizer, due to start shipping in October, uses two lasers and a camera to scan objects up to eight inches across and weighing up to 6.6 pounds. It creates a 3D digital file that can then be used with the company’s 3D printers to create a precise facsimile.

“This is another innovative product for visionaries, early adopters, experimenters, educators, creative hobbyists, 3D sculptors, organic modelers, designers, and architects who want to be the first to become an expert in desktop 3D scanning,” says MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis in a statement.

It’s a big step forward for 3D printing. In the past, MakerBot’s many users have had to create their own models from scratch, or else download instructions from Thingiverse, the company’s user-generated library of designs. Now, though, and in just a few minutes, they can copy anything small enough to fit on the Digitizer’s turntable.

Like games figurines, for example.

Just days ago, digital artist Joaquin Baldwin was forced to withdraw a set of 3D printed Final Fantasy VII figurines from sale after developer Square Enix issued a takedown notice to Shapeways, the 3D print shop Baldwin was using. Baldwin was taken by surprise by the move, and has been seeking advice as to whether it’s legal to make the digital files available for free.

“I’m not a lawyer, so I don’t have a clue,” he says. “I just don’t want people to post them again on some site, start selling them, and then the blame coming back to me for making them accessible in the first place. I don’t know how all of this works.”

The answer is that it’s complicated. Purely decorative objects are protected by copyright, but objects with a useful purpose aren’t – they’re covered by patents instead. And the vast majority of functional objects are unpatented. This leads to some tricky cases, says Michael Weinberg of Public Knowledge, who has written a white paper about the legal implications of 3D printing.

“Sometimes useful articles can also be decorative. A vase is a container to hold water and flowers, but it can also be a work of art in its own right,” he points out. In cases such as this, the object itself isn’t subject to copyright, but decorative elements such as the design on the outside are.

He gives the example of a doorstop which is exactly the size and basic shape that a user is looking for, but which includes color and carvings along the sides.

“If the individual were to reproduce the entire doorstop, including the print and carvings, the original manufacturer may be able to bring a successful claim for copyright infringement,” he says.

“However, if the individual simply reproduced the parts of the doorstop that he cared about – the size and angle of the doorstop – and omitted the decorative elements (the print and carving), it is unlikely that the original manufacturer would be able to successfully bring a copyright claim against the copier.”

Meanwhile, trademarks exist to protect customers from confusion about the origins of a product, meaning that if you’ve created something yourself for your own use you’re in the clear: you know where it came from, after all. However, selling that object on is more problematic – as Baldwin has found.

Weinberg predicts that, over the coming years, dozens of small battles will start to set legal precedents and slowly change the way the law is implemented.

“It is critical for today’s 3D printing community, tucked away in garages, hackerspaces, and labs, to keep a vigilant eye on these policy debates as they grow,” he warns in his paper.

“There will be a time when impacted legacy industries demand some sort of DMCA for 3D printing. If the 3D printing community waits until that day to organize, it will be too late.”

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